Unlike everyone else, I want to focus on Dead Space Extraction, which is a great example of what happens when a third party developer takes the Wii seriously and actually puts effort into making a great game (which, unfortunately, it would seem was all for naught as it sold abysmally and seems to be signaling EA's slow withdrawal from the system, according to news reports).

However, I'm curious if in the review, when you mentioned the quick reloading ability, you meant to say that it was similar to the system in Gears of War, as opposed to Halo (unless Halo 3 ODST had that feature, too; I didn't play it, so I don't know).

[QUOTE=Michael D]Unlike everyone else, I want to focus on Dead Space Extraction, which is a great example of what happens when a third party developer takes the Wii seriously and actually puts effort into making a great game (which, unfortunately, it would seem was all for naught as it sold abysmally and seems to be signaling EA's slow withdrawal from the system, according to news reports).

[/QUOTE]

Oh, poor EA...

At the end of the day - DSE is a $50 rail shooter. Not saying that is a bad thing, not saying it iis not worth $50, but the Wii has a ton of rail shooters. A ton.

Also - I expect the audience for this game was saving their dollars and cents for CoDMW2 which has the online they covet. That's life.

Finally - EA's lack of success have been primarily from trying to 'all-play' their games - they shot themselves in the foot, deciding the Madden Crowd did not like Madden games and etc. And being a poor mans Nintendo, and releasing me too games like EA Fit or whatever that is probably their biggest hit on Wii, and it owes all of its success to Nintendo. Maybe they should get in on the ground level once in a while....

You cannot pretend Wii targets exclusively a 'different crowd' when most of the ppl on this board who play this gen games own a wii, and most of the ppl on this board who have a wii have bought and played Wii Resort, Wii Fit, and yes even, the 'dreaded' Wii Music. Guess what? You are mainstream and expeanded audience too! Guess what? The PS2 had/has the exact same 'mainstream and expanded' audience as well!

I came online today totally expecting people here to tear me a new bunghole for what I said. I want to clarify it a bit, as it came off too vague perhaps

It's like this.......

I'm going to exclude SMB2.......

Mario games have always been about doing things that haven't been done before, making you play and see things that are totally original and creative, that's the "Mario Magic".

SMB1........invented the side-scrolling "cute", "mascot" platformer as we know it. Heck, before this game, most of us just new SINGLE SCREEN platform games like Donkey Kong and Burger Time. SMB1 with long scrolling levels, among a million other things, was mind-blowing innovation

SMB3.........totally blew our minds with all those new suits. Remember when you first flew in the Raccoon suit?? That was mind blowing innovation to be able to fly in a 2D platforming game. Along with all the hidden secrets, alternate routes, all the complexity of those things, despite 2D platform games being a dime a dozen by then, this game as also about mind-blowing innovation

SMW........not the leap that SMB3 was to SMB, this game still packed some mind-blowing stuff, with all the new secrets, the ghost houses, and Yoshi was really innovative and important(you could access secrets in levels you couldn't without him)

NSMB DS..........here's where we start to go downhill. The mega-mushroom suit is never put to interesting use. The mini-mario suit is used to unlock two worlds that SHOULD'NT have been locked in the first place. The game is lacking in secrets, is too easy, too linear, feels stale.

NSMB Wii..................has everything you've already seen in SMB3, SMW, and NSMB DS. What's new about this game?? The penguin suit is just the Koopa-shell suit from NSMB DS with the ability to throw iceballs. Why does the Ice Flower exist when the Penguin suit lets you do the same thing, plus you get the belly slide?? The swimming ability of the Penguin suit is what we saw in the Frog suit in SMB3 anyway. Yoshi is barely in the game and he doesn't affect the level you're playing in. What's the mini-mushroom suit good for?? Just slipping into a few tiny pipes for a few star coins. Helicopter suit?? The Raccoon suit and Cape from previous games allowed for true flight and felt much better than the Helicopter suit. The Helicopter suit is just an overglorfied extra high, floaty spin jump.

Why didn't the playable characters have different abilities, like in SMB2?? Then each level could be played differently, depending on who you picked, you could find special secrets and extra routes in levels. But no, that would make the game complex, deep, and replayable, it's like they wanted to avoid that.

So what's the new stuff in this game?? A small handfull of platforms that can be titled with your wii remote....yippie, and like 2 levels where you are in the dark and need a fire flower to light your way...yippie

NSMB Wii had to be "mass appeal", so the depth and secrets were kept to a minimum. Just have 3 annoying big star coins in each level to collect, *that* equals replay value?? Not alot of imagination or "Mario Magic" there, it's a cop-out if you ask me.

NSMB Wii is a B grade game.....solid and nothing wrong with it, but it's everything you've already seen and played before with Mario........Mario has always been about innovation, when you have no innovation, you just have a well made platform game, you don't have a Mario game..

[QUOTE=Zenzerotron]Why does the Ice Flower exist when the Penguin suit lets you do the same thing, plus you get the belly slide?? The swimming ability of the Penguin suit is what we saw in the Frog suit in SMB3 anyway.[/QUOTE]

You left out the most important aspect of the Penguin suit. Well, it was the most important for me personally -- it gives you much better traction on ice. Admittedly that's going to be minor for many folks, but it was the real draw to the Penguin suit for me.

[QUOTE=The Video Game Critic]Mig: If you really "couldn't disagree with me more", then you'd have to give New Super Mario Bros. Wii an F, wouldn't you?

There's always a certain amount of backlash when anything is hailed as being great. But the bottom line is this: the game is just plain fun. You can dissect its innovation, graphics, controls, etc. But at the end of the day you cannot deny it's one of the most fun - if not THE most fun - game you can play on the Wii. That's the main reason I give this game an A. I play it every day and I love it.

The multiplayer is a bit clumsy, but I really couldn't find any other flaws.

[/QUOTE] Saying the game was a B+ was being kind. The game is not plain fun. For one, if you try to do the ice levels without the penguin suit it is miserable as the controls on those levels are just bad. Good for you that you love it. I just think your objectivity is in the toilet when it comes to these types of games. As much as you purport yourself to be different from other reviewers; when it comes to these games you fall lock step with all of the others.

And what about the boss battles? They are a joke. The SAME boring formula that we have been witnessing for 25 years! Not to mention the terrible motion controls (spin and tilt) they threw in there for good measure.

I don't know, I agree with another post that said there was nothing new here and I would have to agree. The game is flat. Now that I think of it I would have to give the game a C+ at best.

You took it way too easy on this one.

As for the most fun game on the Wii that would have to be Mario Galaxy which was truly innovative.

NSMB Wii is really illustrating which gamers have taste and which gamers do not.

NSMB Wii is WAY better than Super Mario World. All Super Mario World had for it was the addition of Yoshi and was the first SNES game (showcased 16-bit graphics). NSMB Wii is competing right up there with SMB 3. Let us not forget that SMB 3 did have P-Wings and Clouds and short levels that made it not too hard to go through the game. You can't *fly* through a level in NSMB Wii like you can in SMB3 or World, for example.

NSMB Wii is really a magical game, something I have not felt in decades. It really shows what garbage other "2d platformers" have been lately.

NSMB Wii destroys Super Mario Galaxy as well. Galaxy is a game you might replay once or twice. But people will still be buying NSMB Wii. NSMB Wii will still be replayed and selling decades from now where everyone will have forgotten about Galaxy. This is definitely the best game on the Wii since Wii Sports.

MigAlley's meltdown on this thread is funny. "Same formula for twenty five years!" I know, Nintendo was making nothing but 2d Marios for the last twenty years, right? There has been no new console 2d Mario game for almost twenty years. Twenty years!!!

The release of NSMB Wii, of the return of 2d Mario on consoles, is really a truly big day for gaming. Give Caesar his due.